This is a shamanic
drum or "dhyangru" - a de rigeur component of the Himalayan
shaman's kit. Shamanic animism remains a vibrant tradition in
the sub-himalayan area commonly referred to as the "middle
hills", so we are fortunate that we can still catch a glimpse of
the living tradition that reveals much about tribal spirituality
and healing techniques and how things might have been before the
influence of the major world Religions of the area - Buddhism
and Hinduism and later western style medicine took hold in this
vicinity. The protective tutelary deities can be seen at the top
portion of the drum handle. The faces are often assume a form
that
looks very much like the masks used in Tantric Buddhist cham
dances or middle hills animist rites. On this drum the primitive faces
have shamano-tantric attributes - one with a sun on the
forehead, the other with a moon, and the third with a trisul,
and all have evolved a gorgeous patina. Dhyangru drum handles resemble giant phurbas and
usually as seen here, have various carved motiffs, which relate
to the shamanic arts or spirit entities the shaman interacts with during trance
and ritual healing. Here the handle seems to emerge from a
stylized Garuda's (the important pan-asian bird god) mouth and tapers
dagger like to a point, exhibiting folk style carving of linear
patterns and common shamanic imagery such as the dhuangru drum,
bompa vase, dorje, an elephant etc. and of course the intertwined
serpents or Nagas - reptilian interdimensionals.

The dhyangru drum is
an essential tool of the shamanic vocation for several different
"tribes" (or jaats as we say in Nepali) among Nepal's central
and north-central peoples. Almost all shamans in Nepal
incorporate drums into their rituals but different styles of
drums are used by different groups, and among some shamans in
the far west, they do not drum themselves but have members from
specific quarters of the community drum for them.

The dhyangru is
probably the most familiar style of shamanic drum to those
outside Nepal, and as many of you are well aware - it is a
double sided drum, played with a bent stick, and the drum head
is mounted on a long wood handle that resembles a phurba. A
phurba is a ritual dagger used to subdue negativity in various
forms.

Dhyangru drums are
such a central aspect of many shamanic rites that their
importance cannot be overstated. The shaman will beat the drum
relentlessly for hours on end, drumming through the night and
beyond. The rhythmic beats are accompanied by chants - long
invocations and magical formulae that have been passed from
shaman to shaman stretching back generation after generation
into the most remote past. The drum itself becomes a power
object, invested with "shakti" or spiritual and magical power.
The sound of the drum is the vehicle which allows the shaman's
consciousness to travel to the spirit realms, and opens up the
portals through which spiritual agents can interact with the
shaman and those who the shaman is treating.